Lawyers in Bryant auction case head to court

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

CAMDEN (AP) — Lawyers for Kobe Bryant and an auction house are scheduled to make arguments before a federal judge in New Jersey about whether mementos from Bryant can be sold.

Berlin, N.J.-based Goldin Auctions is suing for the right to sell hundreds of items provided by Bryant’s mother, Pamela Bryant. They include practice gear and jerseys, varsity letters and awards from his days at Pennsylvania’s Lower Merion High School, as well as items from his early days in the NBA, including a signed ball from an NBA All-Star game and championship rings the Lakers had made for Bryant’s parents.

The NBA star said he told his mother she did not have the right to auction off his belongings, but Pamela Bryant said in court filings that her son gave her permission to do what she wanted with his old things.

The auction house appraised the trove of 900 items at $1.5 million and gave Pamela Bryant a $450,000 advance, which a court filing said she intended to spend on a home in Nevada. Property records show that she and Bryant’s father, former pro basketball player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant bought a Las Vegas home earlier this year.

Goldin had announced the first auction of Bryant’s mementos would be in June, but Bryant is attempting to block it.

The auction house has gone to a federal judge in Camden, N.J., to request permission to go ahead with a sale and Bryant has gone to a state judge in California to ask that the sale be scrapped.